The County Coroner, as provided in RCW 68.50.010, shall have the responsibility for accepting jurisdiction for the remains of a person that appears to be unclaimed. If seven days after the death of an indigent person no person, relative or responsible officer of a church organization with which the deceased was affiliated (RCW 68.50.070) claims responsibility for the disposition of the decedent’s remains, then the funeral establishment shall have jurisdiction over the remains and shall with reasonable diligence determine if the indigent person is “unclaimed” as that term is defined in this chapter.

Whenever friends, a church organization or appropriate relatives, who have legal responsibility for disposing of the remains, as identified in RCW 68.50.160, claim the body, Clallam County will not accept jurisdiction or financial responsibility for disposition.